1. Hofstede's cultural dimension case study

2. Aim
to examine the results of a world-wide survey of employee values by IBM in the 1960s and 1970s.

3. Procedure
Between 1967 and 1973, he executed a large survey study regarding national values differences across the worldwide subsidiaries of this multinational corporation: he compared the answers of 117,000 IBM matched employees samples on the same attitude survey in different countries. He first focused his research on the 40 largest countries, and then extended it to 50 countries and 3 regions, "at that time probably the largest matched-sample cross- national database available anywhere

4. Findings: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Individualism-collectivism
Masculinity-femininity
Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance

5. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (cont’d)
Work-related value dimensions
Most influential effort to group by cultural values
Created maps of pairs of dimensions

6. Individualism-Collectivism
Self-perception as individual or part of a group
Most widely studied
Most complex
Dimensions different across cultures
i.e., Asian vs Latin American collectivism

7. Individualism-Collectivism (cont’d)
High value on autonomy
Individual achievement
Privacy
Collectivism
High value on group
Family, clan, organization
Loyalty
Devotion
Conformity

8. Masculinity-Femininity Describes Importance of Achievement versus Relationships
Success
Assertive acquisition of money/power
achievement
Equality of genders
Caring for disadvantaged
harmony

9. Power Distance Acceptance of differences in power
High-Power Distance
Accept position
Follow authority
Concentrated & centralized authority
Hierarchical
Low-Power Distance
Avoid concentration of authority
Decentralized
Fewer layers of management

10. Uncertainty Avoidance Reaction to ambiguous events
Low Uncertainty
Avoidance
Embrace unpredictable
Less adherence to rules, procedures, or hierarchies
Risk taking desirable
High Uncertainty
Avoidance
Threatened by ambiguity
Need stable & predictable workplace
Reliance on rules

11. Cultural Maps Individualism-Collectivism & Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance & Masculinity-Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance & Power Distance

12. Individualism-Collectivism & Power Distance
Large power distance and collectivism
Asia and Latin America
Small power distance and individualism
Northern Europe and Anglo countries

13. Uncertainty Avoidance & Masculinity-Femininity
Achievement oriented-weak uncertainty avoidance & masculine values
Security Motivation-high uncertainty avoidance & masculinity
Social Motivation-feminine values & high uncertainty avoidance

14. Uncertainty Avoidance & Power Distance
Family-large power distance & weak uncertainty avoidance
Pyramid of People-large power distance & strong uncertainty avoidance
Well-Oiled Machine-small power distance & strong uncertainty avoidance
Village Market-small power distance & low uncertainty avoidance

15. Limitation of Hofstede’s Dimensions
Missing countries
Estimates values
Ignores differences within clusters

16. Trompenaars’s Alternative Dimensions
Focus on values and relationships
Survey of
15,000 managers
Over 10-year period
From 28 countries
Bipolar cultural dimensions

17. Trompenaars’s Alternative Dimensions (cont’d)
Outer-directed—Inner-directed
Universalism—Particularism
Neutral—Emotional
Specific—Diffuse
Achievement—Ascription
Individualism—Communitarianism